Things You Learn at Yoga Teacher Training in India

When you just sit in silence
the wind blows through you
the sun shines in you
and you realize you are not your body,
you are everything.
~ Anita Krizzan

Waking up at 5:30 am every morning for tea and neti pot does not get any easier (for those of us who are not morning people). And the guy next door who wakes up at 4 am every day to do his cleansing ritual — retching and horking, and sounding like he seriously needs a doctor — will freak you out every time.

Take it slowly with your body. People are always worried that they are not flexible enough for yoga, but it doesn’t matter. What’s important is to show up on your mat every day and do a little. Go to your limit, wherever that may be for the day, and stay there. Over time, that little bit each day will grow, slowly slowly, into something more than you ever thought you could do.

Yoga is about how each pose feels, not how it looks.

After six weeks of intense study and practice, you’ll realize that you’re just at the beginning and that there is so much more to learn.

When you study yoga in India, you’ll learn the asanas, sequences and cuing, but mostly you will learn about yourself. You’ll cry in Warrior ll, and open yourself up to people who were strangers two weeks ago; you’ll experience and share the deepest parts of yourself.

The Hindu god Ganesha has the head of an elephant and a little pot belly from eating so many sweets. He travels on the back of a mouse. This is to symbolize the importance of balance. Yoga is all about balance; what you do to the left, you must also do to the right.

There is no one ‘right’ way to do yoga. There is no such thing as a perfect asana. Just as we all have our own, unique personalities, we will all have our own, unique way to get into Triangle. And this is perfection.

There will always be someone who knows more than you, and someone who knows less. It is your job to learn from the ones who know more, and extend your hand to the ones who know less.

Never give up; Always let go. It seems like a contradiction — many things in India seem like contradictions. It is a country that thrives on juxtaposition. But it’s not. Not really. Any contradiction or dichotomy is just two or more facets of the same jewel. Never stop growing and working hard, but let go of your expectations. You can only control your actions, you can’t control what happens afterwards. Maybe your goals will take you down a different path than you thought, and it will be better than you could have ever expected. Or maybe it will be worse, and you’ll learn a really important lesson. Either way, it’s a win.

When it’s time to leave and say goodbye, don’t be too sad. Every ending is a new beginning.